Bullet for My Valentine
Bullet for My Valentine are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is composed of Matt Tuck (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Mike Paget (lead guitar), Jay James (bass, backing vocals), and Michael Thomas (drums). They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana. Jeff Killed John recorded six songs which were not released; two of these tracks were reworked later in their career as Bullet for My Valentine. Financial difficulties dictated the name change, which was followed by a change in music direction. In 2002, the band secured a five-album deal with Sony BMG. The band has stated that their music is influenced by classic heavy metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Slayer. The band is part of the Cardiff music scene. Bullet for My Valentine's debut album, The Poison, was released on October 3, 2005 in the United Kingdom and on February 14, 2006 in the United States to coincide with Valentine's Day hence their band name. The album entered the Billboard 200 in the US at number 128. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The band made appearances at the Download Festival and Kerrang! XXV, and undertook a US tour with Rob Zombie. Bullet for My Valentine's second studio album, Scream Aim Fire, was released on January 29, 2008 and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The band's third album, Fever, was released on April 26, 2010 and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. The band has sold over one million albums in the United States and two million albums worldwide and are the most-successful act in the Kerrang! Awards category of "Best British Band" with three wins. History Jeff Killed John and record deal (1998—2005) Jeff Killed John was the forerunner band to Bullet for My Valentine and was formed in 1998 by Matthew Tuck, Michael "Padge" Paget, Nick Crandle, and Michael "Moose" Thomas while studying music at Bridgend College. Playing Nirvana and Metallica cover songs, the band released a two-track EP in 2002, You/Play with Me, which was produced by Greg Haver. The EP was financed through the Pynci scheme for new Welsh musicians and the release garnered radio airplay on BBC Radio 1's broadcast at Newport's T.J.'s.Bullet for My Valentine biography Jeff Killed John's music followed the nu metal trend set by bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit. Bassist Crandle left the band on the eve of entering the recording sessions for You/Play with Me and was replaced by Jason James. The band then changed their name to Bullet for My Valentine and reworked their musical strategy; they decided to play thrash metal songs with "harmony guitars and big angelic choruses" according to frontman Tuck. Roadrunner Records showed interest in Bullet for My Valentine and offered the band a deal. The offer was ultimately turned down, and the band signed a five-album record deal with Sony BMG and a UK licensing deal with Visible Noise. According to Tuck, they chose Sony because, "We thought that a lot more doors would be open to us."Bullet for My Valentine Interview|publisher=Room Thirteen A self-titled EP was released on 15 November 2004 in the UK. Produced by Colin Richardson, it featured five tracks and marked the band's first official release. A second EP, Hand of Blood, was released on 22 August 2005 through Trustkill Records and was only available in the US; the release contained one extra track than the self-titled EP, "4 Words (To Choke Upon)". Daniel Lukes of Decibel Magazine reviewed the EP by stating, "The worst part is that the music itself isn’t all that bad, for the genre." He went on to comment that the band should be "embarrassed" about the release.Screamocore takes a dump where it eats Zeromag's Josh Joyce complimented the band on "how technical they can get without confusing the kids".Bullet For My Valentine – Hand of Blood EP The Poison '' (2005—2007) Bullet for My Valentine's debut album, ''The Poison, was released on 3 October 2005 in the UK and on Valentine's Day, 2006 in the US. It entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 128,Chart Listing for the week of 4 Mar 2006: and attained number 11 on the Independent Albums chart.Bullet for My Valentine – Albums On 30 January 2009, the album was certified gold by the RIAA after 500,000 copies were sold in the US.RIAA – Gold & Platinum – 12 August 2009 Four singles were released from The Poison: "4 Words (To Choke Upon)", "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)", "All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)", and "Tears Don't Fall".Bullet for My Valentine – Singles Bullet for My Valentine promoted the album by touring across the world. In 2005, with increased popularity, they played on the larger Download Festival Snickers stage;Download Festival 2005 line-up in 2006, the band were moved to near the top of the main stage bill.Download Festival 2006 line-up Other tours included opening for Metallica and Guns N' Roses in the summer of 2006,Bullet for My Valentine – Matt Tuck, Vocals/Guitars the Vans Warped Tour, Kerrang! tour, and Earthday Birthday. The band's performance at the Brixton Academy in London on 28 January 2006, was filmed for their first DVD, The Poison: Live at Brixton.Bullet For My Valentine DVD Slated For December ReleaseBullet for My Valentine interview – Moose During June 2007, Tuck suffered from laryngitis, which let to an emergency tonsillectomy in July.BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Bullet for My Valentine were forced to cancel several shows, including supporting Metallica for three dates on their Sick of the Studio '07 tour on 29 June in Bilbao, 5 July in Vienna, and 8 July at the recently completed Wembley Stadium in London.Machine Head Added To Metallica's Wembley Bill Unable to speak, Tuck wrote that as soon as doctors cleared him he would be in the studio working on the band's next album.Bullet update Scream Aim Fire (2007—2008) Bullet for My Valentine's second studio album, Scream Aim Fire, was recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios and was produced by Colin Richardson.Bullet for My Valentine in the thick of new album Tuck commented at the time, "It's a lot more up tempo, a lot more aggressive".Bullet for My Valentine frontman says new album is 'More commercial than the last one, we're all gonna cut our hair and wear more makeup'. The album was released in the US on 29 January 2008.Hate Eternal Do Some Soul-Searching; Plus Shadows Fall, Blut Aus Nord & More News That Rules, In Metal File It sold 53,000 copies in its first week and peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200.Keys Notches Fourth Week At No. 1 Three songs were released as singles: "Scream Aim Fire", "Hearts Burst into Fire", and "Waking the Demon". In support of the new album, the band toured North America and Australia in the spring of 2008 for the Taste of Chaos tour alongside Atreyu, Blessthefall, and Avenged Sevenfold. Bullet for My Valentine cut short the Canada portion of the tour and flew back home to support the daughter of James who was in hospital.Bullet for My Valentine Cancels Seattle, Canada Dates The band performed in North America again in the summer of 2008 as part of the No Fear Tour with Bleeding Through, Cancer Bats, and Black Tide.No Fear tour In late 2008, the band toured Europe, supported by Lacuna Coil, Bleeding Through, and Black Tide.Lacuna Coil Concert Dates In December 2008, Scream Aim Fire was re-released with four bonus tracks that were recorded during the album's studio sessions, but with re-recorded vocal-lines. Fever (2009—present) Matt Tuck spoke to Daniel Marez of Metal Hammer in March 2009 about the band's progress on writing and recording their third album. Tuck stated that there were four or five songs that were finished and that "usually we write and record 14 tracks that I then have to write vocal lines for, but this time I’m trying to write the vocals as I write the music".Bullet for My Valentine’s Matt Tuck on new album Bullet for My Valentine confirmed in August 2009 that they were aiming for an early 2010 release for the new album, while Tuck stated that the upcoming record is "a lot more mature-sounding, it's a lot more classic. It'll stand the test of time more than both the previous things we've done".Bullet for My Valentine Drummer Interviewed By Swigged! In a January 2010 interview with Rock Sound, Tuck stated explained details for the album; it would be titled Fever and that the 11-track record would have a sound closer to The Poison rather than Scream Aim Fire and would feature no ballads.Bullet For My Valentine Talk New Album During the summer of 2009, Bullet for My Valentine toured across the United States as part of the Mayhem Festival,Mayhem Festival alongside Killswitch Engage, Slayer, and Marilyn Manson on the main stage;Mayhem Festival Press Release they also appeared on the UK leg of the Sonisphere tour at Knebworth, headlining the second stage.Sonisphere – the inthenews.co.uk review The band will be headlining the second stage at the Download Festival 2010 on the Friday night.Download Festival 2010 The band has also been confirmed for Nova Rock,HEAVEN & HELL, SLAYER, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Confirmed For Austria's NOVA ROCK Festival Metaltown,BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, KREATOR, Others Confirmed For Sweden's METALTOWN Festival Rock am Ring,KISS To Play Germany's ROCK AM RING/ROCK IM PARK Festivals? Rock on the Range,GODSMACK, ROB ZOMBIE, LIMP BIZKIT, SLASH, DEFTONES Confirmed For ROCK ON THE RANGE The Bamboozle,New Jersey Bamboolze Festival Announces New Acts: Bullet For My Valentine, Motion City Soundtrack Bilbao Live Festival,BBK Live 2010 Festival line-up begins to take shape FortarockKILLSWITCH ENGAGE, DEICIDE, KREATOR, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Confirmed For Holland's FORTAROCK and Graspop.BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, NILE Confirmed For GRASPOP METAL MEETING In addition, they will be playing alongside the Big Four on the Greek leg of Sonisphere.METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER, ANTHRAX Confirmed For Greece's SONISPHERE Fever was released on 27 April 2010.Bullet For My Valentine announce third album A free download of a new track called "Begging For Mercy" was released on the band's website on February 14, 2010 as part of a Twitter promotion."Begging For Mercy" Free Download The song "Your Betrayal" was chosen as the lead single for the album and was set to release on 9 March 2010, but, unexpectedly, was released earlier on 2 March 2010 as a digital single on iTunes Store. The second single is called "The Last Fight" and was released on 19 April. The album artwork for this studio album was released on the official website on 5 March 2010. Bullet for My Valentine announced the start their US tour in support of Fever. It began on 30 April with the bands Airbourne and Chiodos as support.Bullet for my Valentine Tour Dates with Airbourne and Chiodos On 12 March the band released the music videos for "The Last Fight" and "Your Betrayal".http://www.jiverecords.com/bulletformyvalentine/ The band revealed the track listing on their website on March 15, as well as other various sources that include an email to all of their subscribers on the mailing list.http://www.alternativepress.com/news/8606.htm On 26 April the band played a secret show in London to celebrate the release of Fever. This was their only UK headline show until the end of the year.Bullet For My Valentine to play secret show Musical style and influences Bullet for My Valentine are primarily deemed as a contemporary metal band. With detailed statements, their music has been described by critics as metalcore]Bullet For My Valentine — The PoisonBFMV at NME heavy metal,Drowned in Sound – Bullet for My Valentine: Scream Aim Fire reviewAbsolute Radio – Bullet for My Valentine pull out of Metallica Wembley show and thrash metal.BBC review Scream Aim FireThe New Guitar Gods: Bullet for My Valentine The band has cited being influenced by bands such as Metallica, Annihilator, Pantera, Machine Head, Iron Maiden, Testament, Stuck Mojo, Slayer, Judas Priest, and Megadeth.Bullet for My Valentine Interview – Ultimate Guitar These bands inspire Bullet for My Valentine's "catchy vocals, aggressive riffs and melodies," according to Thomas.Bullet for My Valentine – Confident aiming at being the next classic metal band The band describe their two albums, The Poison and Fever, as having a "super dark" tone,Bullet For My Valentine biography Tuck went on to state that "…we’re a hard rock band with metal influences, and I’ve said that from Day One.” Kirk Miller of Decibel Magazine praised the band for the effort in synchronised song structures.Bullet for My Valentine – The Poison When asked of their views on their looks, members of the band have stated that they would not change their sound or image for a commercial approach; Tuck commented that, "Without sounding harsh, we're more interested in what our music sounds like than what our fucking hair looks like."Bullet for My Valentine Interview Band members ;Current members * Matt Tuck – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1998–present) * Jay James – bass, vocals (2003–present) * Mike Paget – lead guitar, backing vocals (1998–present) * Michael Thomas – drums, percussion (1998–present) ;Former members * Nick Crandle – bass (1998–2003) Discography :Main article:Bullet for My Valentine discography ;Studio albums * The Poison (2005) * Scream Aim Fire (2008) * Fever (2010) References External links * Official website Category:Bands LTJ have played with Category:Links to Wikipedia